Discussion:
oils shelf life?
(too old to reply)
dAz
2011-02-07 23:37:23 UTC
Permalink
as I mentioned in a previous post, I noticed on the Ofrei site the shelf
life of the various oils, the Moebius traditional clock oils like the
8030, 8040 is 3 years, with the synthetics 6years, watch oils syntALube
and Visco-Lube is 6 years

I have never seen a date on a bottle of oil except the one I write on it
when I open the bottle, the 2ml vial of SyntALube I have is dated july
1993, still packed in it's metal tube, still has the same light blue
colour oil it always had and is a bit over half full, the oil is stored
in a drawer out of any light, I always use a glass pickup to transfer
the oil from the bottle to the bench oil pot, I change the oil in the
pot every few days or because I don't do anyway near as many watches
these days as I used to when I was in a shop I change the oil just
before I do a batch of watches.

so if the traditional Moebius clock oil has a shelf life of 3 years, how
fresh is it when I buy it? the supply house might have had in stock for
2years or more, on occasions I have noticed the oil going rancid only
after a few months, and would also explain why some clocks were coming
back only after 5-6 years completely gummed up and what was left of the
oil had gone green.

a vienna regulator I did in 1988 and checked in 1999 had seized with the
moebius oil, did a normal service this time using the 859 oil, again
checked the clock in 2009 and found the oil was darkened but still working.

I haven't used the 'traditional' clock oils for 12 years or so, only the
859 and D5, now testing the nano-oil, may prove to work on some problem
movements, certainly works on cylinder escapements, the improvement in
amplitude is noticeable.

anyway back to this shelf life, how old is that bottle of oil you just
bought?, if 6 years is the life of synthetic oils how long does it last
in the clock?, I am not going to start telling my customers to bring
their clock in every 3 years for an expensive service, be lucky to see
every 10years.

dAz
Tom Charlton
2011-02-11 02:43:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by dAz
as I mentioned in a previous post, I noticed on the Ofrei site the shelf
life of the various oils, the Moebius traditional clock oils like the
8030, 8040 is 3 years, with the synthetics 6years, watch oils syntALube
and Visco-Lube is 6 years
I have never seen a date on a bottle of oil except the one I write on it
when I open the bottle, the 2ml vial of SyntALube I have is dated july
1993, still packed in it's metal tube, still has the same light blue
colour oil it always had and is a bit over half full, the oil is stored in
a drawer out of any light, I always use a glass pickup to transfer the oil
from the bottle to the bench oil pot, I change the oil in the pot every
few days or because I don't do anyway near as many watches these days as I
used to when I was in a shop I change the oil just before I do a batch of
watches.
so if the traditional Moebius clock oil has a shelf life of 3 years, how
fresh is it when I buy it? the supply house might have had in stock for
2years or more, on occasions I have noticed the oil going rancid only
after a few months, and would also explain why some clocks were coming
back only after 5-6 years completely gummed up and what was left of the
oil had gone green.
a vienna regulator I did in 1988 and checked in 1999 had seized with the
moebius oil, did a normal service this time using the 859 oil, again
checked the clock in 2009 and found the oil was darkened but still working.
I haven't used the 'traditional' clock oils for 12 years or so, only the
859 and D5, now testing the nano-oil, may prove to work on some problem
movements, certainly works on cylinder escapements, the improvement in
amplitude is noticeable.
anyway back to this shelf life, how old is that bottle of oil you just
bought?, if 6 years is the life of synthetic oils how long does it last in
the clock?, I am not going to start telling my customers to bring their
clock in every 3 years for an expensive service, be lucky to see every
10years.
dAz
This has me wondering about the small bottle of W.F. Nye Superior Clock Oil
I found at a yard sale a few years back. It is in the original box with a
printed circular. The front of the circular mentions the discovery by Mr.
Nye of the superior lubrication properties of Porpoise Jaw Oil. A list of
Mil. Spec. lubricants, with a focus on weaponry, is on the back. I would
guess this oil is at least 50 years old. The color is clear pale yellow and
it smells pretty bad.



Tom

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